L-R: Alex, Sam, Phil, and Marcia
Sam's Game is a 2001 ITV Roommate Com starring the lives and relationships of four twenty-something friends living in London.
The show features Sam (Davina McCall), a single gutsy girl looking for love, who gets by in a pleasant flat by illegally subletting to Alex (Ed Byrne), a kind-hearted if neurotic Irishman.
Across the hallway resides Phil (Tristan Gemmill), a vain hunk of a man who may be developing romantic sparks with Sam, whilst Marcia (Tameka Empson), is a bit of a gossip and spends as much time with Sam as she does in her own flat.
The show ran for 6 episodes.
Tropes in this series:
- Acronym Confusion: Alex claims to have PMS - Parched Mouth Syndrome (although Sam's response indicates that she thought he meant pre-menstrual syndrome).
- Bedmate Reveal: The plot of the first episode begins when Sam wakes up in bed next to Alex. They didn't do anything bad, but it doesn't stop the others from speculating.
- British Brevity: Only 6 episodes were ever made.
- Dumpster Dive: In "Slogan", Sam, Alex, and Phil are having difficulty coming up with a cereal slogan for a competition. They are aware of a man who is very good at slogans, but he's died, with his contribution to the competition put in the bin, so they eventually go through his bins. Alex seems to find it, only to find that it's actually his shopping list, so they give up their search. Before they can leave, however, things get embarrassing when the man's wife comes across them.
- Fake Relationship: In "Bed", Sam's landlord Larry is alerted to the fact that he is illegally subletting Alex, so she passes him off as her boyfriend. Considering how the others already believe that they're together, it just makes matters worse, especially when Sam also has to convince Larry that Alex is Australian.
- Gender-Blender Name: Despite what her name may suggest, Sam is actually a girl. It is possible that it's short for Samantha.
- Gender-Equal Ensemble: The main cast consists of 2 boys (Alex and Phil) and 2 girls (Sam and Marcia).
- Global Ignorance: Alex believes that the capital of Canada is "Canada City", an act of ignorance that costs the gang a win in a competition in "Slogan".
- Heat Wave: "No Sweat" is set against the backdrop of a heatwave.
- Invisible Celebrity Guest: Bill Gates is mentioned to be at the party that Alex gets involved with at "Mumma's Kitchen", but he's only ever seen from behind.
- Mistaken for Flirting: The owner of the cafe that the cast goes to has been giving Alex treats in "Dumped", so he thinks that the owner wants to get into a relationship with him. Turns out that he was just concerned about Alex's health.
- Nice Guy: Colin, Sam's boyfriend in "Dumped", is a really nice guy who is kind and caring - which means that Sam wants to dump him, although not without guilt.
- Local Hangout: The gang frequently meets up at an unnamed sandwich bar and cafe, helped by the fact that Marcia works there.
- Not What It Looks Like: In "Bed", Sam wakes up in bed next to Alex. Nothing happened between the two, but it doesn't stop others from speculating - Marcia overhears the bed creaking and thinks the two are having sex (really Alex trying to show Sam the sag in her bed) amongst other misunderstandings. Sam even says "it's not what it looks like" when Phil walks in on her trying out food from Alex.
- One-Word Title: The episodes "Bed", "Dumped", and "Slogan" consists of only one word.
- Please Dump Me: In "Dumped", Sam is sick of her boyfriend Colin, but considers him too much of a Nice Guy to dump (that, and he's just gotten her a car), so Alex suggests that she show her true colors and act as annoying as possible so that he dumps her. Unfortunately for her, it seems as if nothing will phase him. He eventually dumps her and she tries to explain that it wasn't him who dumped her but she who dumped him by being annoying... until she finds that he dumped her because he found another woman.
- Protagonist Title: The "Sam" in the title of course refers to the main protagonist Sam.
- Right Behind You: Alex needs to lie to his girlfriend Sarah, who has told him that she'll break up the relationship if he lied again. He duly does so, saying that he's in traffic when he's still at the flat... right as Sarah enters and comes in behind him.
- Sassy Black Woman:
- Marcia is the Token Black Friend of the quartet and is the one with the most sassiness.
- Mumma is a black restaurant owner with a bit of an attitude, having it out for Sam in particular.
- Sexy Secretary: Jenny, the secretary that shows up in "Dumped", is attractive enough to Alex that he (to little avail) attempts to hide it from her, believing that to say otherwise would be sexual harassment.
- Title-Only Opening: The opening of the show is just the title briefly forming over a view of the street where the four live, with the actor's credits rolling over the first scene. There is a theme tune that plays over the credits, however.
- Token Black Friend: Marcia is the one black person out of the quartet.
- Vomit Discretion Shot: Alex pukes in the cutlery drawer in "Bed", although the audience thankfully never sees it.
- Wet Blanket Wife: Daisy, Phil's girlfriend from "Eternal Rectangle", has a preference for more classical events, ruining the social lives of the others.
